The Danish government has recently decided by a majority vote to exclude the Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank from bilateral agreements with Israel. It was also decided to strengthen the government guidelines against investing in projects in both private and public bodies in the settlements.
Haaretz newspaper said that Denmark through these decisions has adopted the UN Security Council resolution 2334 wherein settlements are defined as a violation of international law and a distinction is made between Israel and Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem. The same view is held by the European Union in all agreements with Israel.
These decisions express support for the efforts made by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to formulate a black list of Israeli companies operating in the settlements.
The decision was raised in a formal query to the Danish Foreign Ministry in November 2017 after a number of Danish pension funds were forced to withdraw their investments in Israel following a wave of public outcry.
According to Israeli Foreign Ministry data Israel and Denmark have 13 direct bilateral agreements in the fields of aviation culture education law industry taxes and visas. The latest resolutions will affect future agreements between the two countries. Existing agreements might be effected pending updates.
Danish Foreign Minister Anders Samuelsen in December 2017 announced that his country would toughen the terms of support for Palestinian NGOs following Israeli pressure to stop Danish funding of Palestinian organizations allegedly involved in anti-Israel incitement and boycott activities.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had sent to Samuelsen a list of Palestinian organizations which receive Danish funding and which Israel claims are involved in activities led by the Boycott Divestment and Sanctions movement.
A few months after receiving the list Denmark decided to freeze the remainder of the support and to formulate more strict criteria for the future. However Denmark stressed that it would continue to support organizations focusing on human rights in Palestine.
